AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC ON MUTUAL PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

The Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of the Slovak Republic, hereinafter referred to as the Parties,

intending to ensure the mutual protection of all Classified Information, which has been classified in the state of the one Party and transferred to the state of the other Party,

desiring to establish the rules of the mutual protection of Classified Information, which shall extend to all agreements on cooperation to be concluded between the Parties and the contracts to be awarded between the legal entities of the states of the Parties that are provided for exchange of Classified Information,

have agreed as follows:

Article 1

Definitions

For the purpose of this Agreement:

1. Classified Information - information, document or material of any kind, which in the interest of the national security of the Originating Party and in accordance with its applicable laws and regulations, requires protection against unauthorized disclosure and which has been classified in accordance with national legislation of the Originating Party.

2. Classified Contract - an agreement between two or more legal entities or individuals of the states of the Parties creating and defining enforceable rights and obligations between them, which contains or includes Classified Information.

3. Contractor - an individual or legal entity of the state of the Party possessing the legal capability to undertake Classified Contracts.

4. Competent Authority - the authority of the state of the Party, which in compliance with national legislation is responsible for the protection of Classified Information and for the implementation of this Agreement. Such authorities are listed in Article 4 of this Agreement.

5. Originating Party - the state of the Party initiating the Classified Information as represented by the Competent Authority.

6. Receiving Party - the state of the Party to which the Classified Information is transferred as represented by the Competent Authority.

7. Third Party - any state, organization or legal entity which is not the Party to this Agreement.

8. Need to Know - a principle by which access to Classified Information may only be granted to a person by virtue of his/her official duties, within the framework of which the information was released to the Receiving Party.

Article 2

Security Classifications

The security classifications and their equivalents of the Parties are:

Republic of Latvia	Equivalent in English	Slovak Republic
SEVIŠĶI SLEPENI	TOP SECRET	PRÍSNE TAJNÉ
SLEPENI	SECRET	TAJNÉ
KONFIDENCIĀLI	CONFIDENTIAL	DÔVERNÉ
DIENESTA VAJADZĪBĀM	RESTRICTED	VYHRADENÉ

Article 3

PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED

INFORMATION

1. In accordance with their national laws, regulations and practices, the Parties shall take appropriate measures to protect Classified Information which is transferred, received, produced or developed as a result of an agreement between the state bodies or legal entities of the respective states of the Parties. The Parties shall afford to all of the exchanged, received, produced or developed Classified Information the same degree of security protection as is provided to their own Classified Information of equivalent level of classification, as defined in Article 2 of this Agreement.

2. The Receiving Party and the state bodies or legal entities and individuals of the Receiving Party shall neither use a lower security classification for the received Classified Information nor declassify this information without the prior written permission of the Competent Authority of the Originating Party. The Competent Autho­rity of the Originating Party shall inform the Competent Authority of the Receiving Party of any changes in security classification of the exchanged information.

3. Access to locations and facilities where activities involving Classified Information are performed or where Classified Information is stored, shall be limited to those who have been security cleared and who have a Need to Know.

4. The Receiving Party shall not release received Classified Information to a Third Party without prior written permission of the Competent Authority of the Originating Party.

5. This Agreement shall not be invoked by either Party to obtain Classified Information that the other Party has received from a Third Party.

6. Each Party shall supervise the observance of national laws, regulations and practices by legal entities and individuals residing in the territory of the state of this Party that hold, develop, produce or use Classified Information of the state of the other Party, by means of review visits or other means of control.

Article 4

COMPETENT AUTHORITIES

1. The Competent Authorities of the Parties are:

a) For the Republic of Latvia:

Satversmes aizsardzības birojs

(Constitution Protection Bureau);

Address: Miera 85a, Riga, LV-1013

b) For the Slovak Republic:

Národný bezpečnostný úrad

(National Security Authority)

Address: Budatínska 30, 850 07 Bratislava

2. In order to achieve and maintain comparable standards of security, the respective Competent Authorities shall, on request, provide each other with information about national rules and regulations, security organization and procedures in practice for safeguarding Classified Information.

3. The Competent Authorities can conclude executive documents to this Agreement.

Article 5

SECURITY CLEARANCE

1. The Parties shall ensure that all persons staying in the territory of their state who, in the conduct of their official duties require access, or whose duties or functions may afford access to information classified CONFIDENTIAL and above, provided or exchanged under the present Agreement are appropriately security cleared before they are granted access to such information.

2. The security clearance procedures shall be designed to determine whether an individual may, taking into account his or her loyalty, trustworthiness and reliability, have access to Classified Information.

3. Upon request, the Competent Autho­rities, taking into account the respective national legal regulations, shall assist each other in vetting procedures related to and preceding the issue of the appropriate security certificate.

4. The Parties shall mutually recognize the appropriate security certificates issued in accordance with their national laws and regulations.

5. The Competent Authorities shall announce to each other any changes related to the issued security certificates, in particular the cases of their revoke.

Article 6

TRANSFER OF CLASSIFIED

INFORMATION

1. Classified Information shall be transferred normally by means of diplomatic, military and other courier services approved by the Competent Authorities. The Receiving Party shall confirm in writing the receipt of Classified Information to the Originating Party.

2. If a large consignment containing Classified Information is to be transferred, the Competent Authorities shall mutually agree on and approve the means of trans­portation, the route and security measures for each such case.

3. Other approved means of transfer or exchange of Classified Information, including electromagnetic transmission may be used if agreed upon by the Competent Authorities.

Article 7

Translation, reproduction and destruction

1. Documents containing information classified TOP SECRET shall be allowed for translation and copying only on the written permission of the Competent Autho­rity of the Originating Party.

2. Translation of any Classified Information shall be made only by individuals who have security clearance corresponding to the security classification of the original document. Such translation shall bear appropriate security classification in the language into which it is translated.

3. Copies and translations of Classified Information of the Originating Party shall be marked with the same security classification as the originals and shall be handled as originals. Such reproduced information shall be placed under the same controls as the original information. The number of copies shall be limited to that required for official purposes.

4. Classified Information shall be destroyed or modified in such a manner that any reconstruction of Classified Information in whole or in part is efficiently prevented.

5. Document or material containing information, classified TOP SECRET shall not be destroyed. It shall be returned to the Competent Authority of the Originating Party. In case of immediate danger such information may be destroyed without the prior written permission of the Competent Authority of the Originating Party. The event shall be promptly notified to the Competent Authority of the Originating Party.

Article 8

CLASSIFIED CONTRACTS

1. If there is a need to conclude a Classified Contract with a Contractor residing permanently or temporarily in the territory of the state of the other Party, an assurance from the Competent Authority of the Receiving Party shall be obtained in advance that the proposed Contractor has been security cleared corresponding to the required security classification and has implemented appropriate security arrangements to ensure the protection of Classified Information. This assurance shall confirm that the security arrangements of the security cleared Contractor correspond to national legislation of the state of the Receiving Party on protection of Classified Information and that these arrangements are supervised by the Competent Authority of the Receiving Party.

2. The Classified Contracts between the legal entities or individuals of the states of the Parties shall be concluded in accordance with the national legislation of the states of the Parties.

3. The Competent Authority of one Party is obliged to ensure that each piece of Classified Information, which has been either released to the Contractor of the other Party or generated in connection with a Classified Contract, has been assigned a relevant security classification. On request of the Competent Authority of one Party, the Competent Authority of the other Party shall provide a security requirements list. The Competent Authority of one Party shall provide the Competent Authority of the other Party with a written notification stating that the Contractor has undertaken to observe national legislation on the protection of Classified Information of the state where the Classified Contract will be carried out.

4. The Competent Authority shall ensure that the Contractor will handle the parts of a contract, which require security classification, in the same manner as Classified Information of the state of the Contractor in compliance with the security classification defined in the Article 2 of this Agreement.

5. Should the Competent Authority approve a classified subcontract this Article shall apply accordingly.

6. The Competent Authorities shall ensure that a Classified Contract is concluded or work on classified parts of a contract begins only after the Contractor has implemented all the necessary security measures.

Article 9

VISITS

1. Security experts of the states of the Parties may periodically visit each other in order to discuss the procedures for the protection of Classified Information.

2. The prior approval of the Competent Authority of the state of the Party in whose territory the visit is to be realized shall be required in respect of visitors if access to Classified Information or to premises where Classified Information is developed, handled or stored is necessary.

3. The written claim for visit shall be sent to the Competent Authority of the state of the Party in whose territory the visit is to be realized, as a rule ten working days before the planned visit.

4. The written claim for visit shall include:

a) name and surname of the visitor, date and place of birth and passport number;

b) nationality of the visitor;

c) position of the visitor and name of the institution or company (s)he is representative of, and, if possible, the name and closer identification of classified contract (s)he takes part in;

d) information on the visitor's level of issued security certificate;

e) purpose of the visit and estimated date of arrival and departure;

f) name of the institution or company to be visited.

5. Each Party shall guarantee the protection of personal data of the visitors according to the respective national legislation of the state of this Party.

Article 10

BREACH OF SECURITY

1. In case of a breach of security regulations that results in certain or suspected compromise of Classified Information, originated or received from the other Party, the Competent Authority in whose state the compromise occurred shall inform the Competent Authority of the other Party as soon as possible and carry out the appropriate investigation in accordance with its national legislation. The other Party shall, if required, cooperate in the investigation.

2. In case the compromise occurs in a country different from the Parties, the Competent Authority of the dispatching Party shall take the actions as in paragraph 1.

3. The other Party shall be informed of the results of the investigation and shall receive the final report as to the reasons of the event and the extent of the damage.

Article 11

COSTS

Each Party shall waive claims to other Party for reimbursements of expenditures incurred under the implementation of this Agreement.

Article 12

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Any dispute regarding the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be resolved by consultation between the Competent Authorities and shall not be resolved by any national or international tribunal or a Third Party.

Article 13

FINAL PROVISIONS

1. The present Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period of time.

2. The present Agreement shall be subject to approval in accordance with national legislation of the states of the Parties and shall enter into force on the first day of the second (2) month following the receipt of the last written notification of the Parties informing each other of the completion of national legal procedures that are necessary for its entering into force.

3. This Agreement may be terminated at any time by either Party in the way of a written notification. The Agreement expires six (6) months from the date the notification of termination has been received by the other Party.

Notwithstanding the termination of this Agreement, all Classified Information provided pursuant to this Agreement shall continue to be protected in accordance with the provisions set forth herein, until the Originating Party will dispense the Receiving Party from this obligation.

4. Each Party shall promptly notify the other Party of any amendments to its national legislation that would affect the protection of Classified Information under this Agreement. In such case, the Parties shall consult to consider possible amendments to this Agreement. Till the termination of the Agreement, Classified Information shall continue to be protected as described herein, unless requested otherwise in writing by the Originating Party.

5. This Agreement may be modified on the basis of a mutual written consent of both Parties. Such changes and amendments shall enter into force in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.

Done in Bratislava on 2nd February 2005 in two copies in the Latvian, Slovak and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of any divergence of interpretation of the provisions of this Agreement the English text shall prevail.

For the Government of the Republic of Latvia

For the Government of the Slovak Republic